My World

This morning I put on lotion while I was getting ready for work.  This may not sound like anything important, but for me, this is monumental.  Many things have to be perfectly aligned in the cosmos in order for this to happen.  It helps tremendously that my parents are in town.  Because of this, I was able to take a real shower AND do my hair (in the same day!) yesterday, so I wasn't frantically trying to tame my hair this morning.  Also because of their help, we were able to get the kids to bed on time last night, so I was able to get both Ree's lunch and my own made before bed, so I wasn't rushing to take care of that this morning.  My mom was also kind enough to do my ironing (love you, Mom!), so I also didn't have to spend precious moments kneeling on the bathroom floor trying to make a pair of maternity pants look remotely presentable by ironing them from approximately the knees down.  Finally, and this is the most important part, because the kids are getting extra attention and going on adventures, the KIDS WERE ALL ASLEEP this morning.  Yes, I got ready without ANY "help."  Miraculous!

Despite this, I wouldn't trade my home life for anything.  I pretty much love it, despite the insanity.  And I'm oddly used to it.  I had to giggle this morning when I realized I felt guilty putting on lotion.  Seriously, when did moisturizing one's skin in dry weather become a guilty pleasure?  But it made me smile, and gave me a sense of perspective.

Every now and then I get a glimpse of what other people think of our lives, and that makes me smile as well.  Last week I stumbled upon a blog entry written by a friend who came to visit in August.  She and her husband are our age, but in a very different phase of life.  She is finishing her PhD and is just starting her career.  Kids just aren't on the radar yet.  She commented that although we have great kids (her words, not mine, really!) I never get any personal space, let alone a moment to think.  Hmm.  Something to ponder if I had a moment... :)

But if that didn't bring it home, actually observing someone else in our environment did.  On Saturday afternoon, my mom offered to clean the bathroom and sweep and mop while the kids took a nap.  To me, that sounds like an insane amount to accomplish in a single day, but I suppose a normal person would see it as feasible, especially given that Leon and Michael often nap for at least 2.5 hours.  She got the boys all tucked in while I cleaned up the kitchen.  The kids were ALL sick last week (woohoo for preschool!) and I went four days in a row on five hours of interrupted sleep a night.  The last thing I told her before I stumbled off to nap was to spend some time doing crafts with Ree and not worry about the cleaning.  I also told Ree that after craft time, she needed to leave Gran alone.  (Ree is more than capable of playing by herself, especially when she is avoiding actually taking a nap.)

So they did crafts, and that lasted for about 20 minutes.  Then Ree wanted to watch a movie while my mom cleaned.  So my mom started Aladdin for her, which Ree was dying to watch again.  But Ree wanted Grant to sit with her and fast forward through the scary part at the beginning.  So my mom did.  They were just past that part, and my mom was walking toward the bathroom, determined to clean it, when Michael woke up.  He was still sick and all congested and woke up because he couldn't breathe.  So she then spent half an hour sitting outside on the porch swing with him so that he could rest and to keep him from making noise and waking anyone else up.  About that time I got up.  I had planned on decorating the boys' birthday cake, but I realized I didn't have the food coloring I needed.  (More on their birthday, part one, soon.)  So Ree and I headed for the grocery store.

About that time Jeff woke up.  He had also been napping, in an attempt to recover from taking care of 3 sick kids for 6 days.  With Ree out of the picture, and Jeff in charge of watching the boys (Leon, of course, woke up just as Ree and I were leaving), my mom resumed her mission to at least get one bathroom clean.  She got it mostly done before Jeff accidentally broke a glass and she needed to go watch the boys so he could clean up the shards.  Ree and I returned while he was cleaning.  Of course by that time it was time to make dinner and begin the insane spiral toward bedtime.  Any further cleaning before the kids went to bed was out of the question.  While my mom shared her story with me, all I could think to say was, "Welcome to our wold!"